TORONTO - Ottawa is extending an auto sector fund the provides a $250-million pool of investment cash over five years for car companies and their suppliers.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking at the Ford plant in Oakville, Ont., said the Automotive Innovation Fund has helped the auto sector become more innovative, agile and competitive.

“The rebound of our auto sector in this country is one of Canada’s biggest economic and industrial success stories of the last five years,” said Harper, who cautioned that the “global economy remains troubled.”

“Therefore I’m pleased to announce today that our government will make another significant five-year investment in the automotive innovation fund.”

The fund, established in 2008 federal budget, requires companies to invest their own money to access government cash.

The five-year renewal comes amid a controversy over government assistance to the auto industry, after GM of Canada said in late December that it will shift production of the Chevrolet Camaro from Oshawa, Ont., to a plant in Michigan in 2015.

The federal and Ontario governments contributed $10.6 billion to the bailout of General Motors during the 2009 recession, when the company restructured under court protection.